Argentina suffer further defeat in World Cup warm-up

The Argentina national basketball team signed off pre-World Cup preparations with another reverse, this time against Spain, who defeated a depleted side 86-53 in their last friendly before the tournament begins.

Julio Lamas' men were never in the game against the World Cup hosts, as 10,000 fans watched Spain triumph in Madrid's Sports Palace.

Walter Herrmann, with 11 points, Andrés Nocioni (10) and Selem Safar (10) were the only men who managed to score in double digits for Argentina, whose attack suffered a disappointing contribution from Luis Scola. The Indiana Pacers star scored just two points in today's encounter, making 1-10 field goals.

Marc Gasol, meanwhile, led the way for Spain with 14 points, while Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka finished with 13 each.

"We were well beaten. We were inefficient, we had a poor field goal percentage. Spain is the first step towards the World Cup and we were not up to the level," coach Lamas admitted following the game.

Argentina will debut in the tournament on Saturday, against Puerto Rico in Seville's City Arena.